Increasing the Format-Flexibility of Packaging Machines: Experimental Study on Laser Beam Sealing and Cutting

The improvements of the format-flexibility as well as the resource and energy efficiency are important for the users and manufacturers of packaging machines. There is a positive interconnection of resource and energy efficiency with format-flexibility because e.g. the reduction of stand-by phases. To reach these goals, it is necessary to reduce the downtime and to increase the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The application of laser beam based processing technologies is very common in many different branches, e.g. automotive. One big advantage of the laser beam as a working tool is the high inherent flexibility. Different contours could be sealed and cut without any changeover by the use of flexible motion systems, e.g. deflection units or robots. However, there is a lack of use of laser based technologies in packaging machines. The focus of this paper is the experimental investigation of laser beam sealing and cutting with the same laser source. For this a 2 μm diode-pumped thulium fiber laser is used. Furthermore a flexible processing device will be shown and the practical use will be demonstrated.